Janvrin

This family appears as simple Janvrin, and also Valpy dit Janvrin. There is much confusion between the two, particularly as to which came first

Mrs Janvrin Tims and Gertrude Amy

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Janvrin monument

Origin of Surname

This is a name from the Mayenne region of France, and also Manche and Calvados in Normandy, which is a diminuitive form of the old French jenvre, coming from the Latin juvenior and simply meaning 'junior'. It was originally coined to indicate the youngest of the family.

Early records

There appear to be two distinct families in Jersey, plain 'Janvrin' and 'Valpy dit Janvrin', but there is much confusion between the two, with some Valpy dit Janvrins recorded simply as Janvrin. It is also not clear whether there was a third family line known simply as 'Valpy', before one emerged in the 19th century.

Baptism records start in the mid-16th century with both Valpy and Valpy dit Janvrin and the registers contain a total of 168 of the former and 445 of the latter.

Given that the earliest of all records are for plain 'Janvrin' in the parish of St Brelade, and that Valpy dit Janvrin was still in use in the 19th century, J Bertrand Payne's assertion (see below) that the surname graduated from Valpy dit Janvrin to Janvrin is called into question. Eminent 20th century historian Joan Stevens, in her Old Jersey Houses, supported this view, stating that Valpy dit Janvrin is the older form of the name.

Variants

Janvrin

Janvri, it is not clear if this is a true variant or a slip of the Rector's pen

Valpy dit Janvrin

Valepie dit Janvrin

Valpie dit Janvrin

Payne's Armorial of Jersey

Known originally as Valpy-dit-Janvrin (a duplicate mode of nomenclature far from uncommon in the island, but of very uncertain origin), this family has been settled in the parish of St Brelade for several generations. In the church of that parish exists an elaborate mural monument, with medallion bust, to the memory of Francis Valpy-dit-Jauvrin, Jurat of the Royal Court, and in the churchyard is the vault of the family, where the deaths of several of its members are recorded.

A small islet in Portelet Bay, near Noirmont Point, is named L'islet Janvrin, from the following melancholy incident. A member of the family arriving in his ship from an infected port was obliged, with his crew, to perform quarantine in the bay, and being there attacked with the plague, died within sight of his home, without one interview with his wife, children, or
friends.

Mathieu Valpy-dit-Janvrin was born in Jersey about 1513, and had a son, also Matthieu.